I try to take
one day at a time...
but lately
several days have attacked me
at once
- Steven Wright

Funding is always a difficult issue at meetings. Various things should be clarified including what is included in the funding for all the different things that are under the authority of the people who attend the meeting in the entire scope of the meeting aegis they should know what specific funding comes from the participants or the members or those at the meeting and they should also know what the ceiling for any issue at the meeting.

Are there expenses to be borne by the participants? Will they be compensated for some or all of these expenses?

Will the funding come from a charitable fund? And if so is it possible that the participants will have the option to decide whether they will or will not be able or want to foot part or all of that expense?

These basic issues should be presented at the beginning of the meeting, followed by the participants comments at a later stage in the meeting. If this is the case then all of the other specific questions about what can or cannot or should or should not be done are resolved in advance and the participants can get on with the topics at hand and the issues that they are supposed to work on instead of getting bogged down on these irrelevant issues or these basic statements which do not need any discussion. They just need to be stated as given and accepted by all.

It also will eliminate the basic questions about why can't the organization do this or that. Once people know that this is what has been presented to them as a given then they don't have to ask silly questions about why it has to be this way and the group does not have to get bogged down in babyish questions about but why, but maybe, but if we ask again and the like.